Classis of Amsterdam

Description:

A "classis" is a church governing body made up of delegates, usually
ministers, elders, or occasionally deacons, from a group of churches
within a geographical area. It has authority to make binding decisions
on issues that concern its churches. The classis of Amersterdam governed
the Dutch Reformed Churches that sprang up in the colony of New
Netherlands in the 17th century. When that colony came under English
control and became New York, the English allowed the Dutch Reformed
Churches to continue under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the
classis of Amersterdam. In 1679, the classis of Amersterdam allowed the
formation of a colonial classis with restricted power to govern these
far-flung churches.